Group: Past members

Andy graduated from his MSc in Marine Environmental Protection and is now completing a PhD at Bangor University UK.

Why did you choose to work in marine biology?

I grew up watching documentaries on the oceans and going out on boats in various places around the world. It was always something that I really enjoyed and found fascinating. I originally wanted to be an underwater cameraman. I then fell in love with the sciences and thought an undergraduate degree at the Scottish Association for Marine Science was a good way to do something I enjoyed and was highly passionate about. The degree gave me a strong foundation in general marine science, covering aspects from a variety of disciplines. Over the years I have been studying I found that my interests focused on the management and sustainable use of marine resources. During my undergraduate degree I worked as a scientific diver and after leaving university spent a year working as a scallop diver in order to gain further experience of the fishing industry.

What is your research about?

I am looking at the effect of ocean acidification on Mytilus edulis and the effect this would have to their muscle mass, vulnerability to predation and a variety of other factors which could have an impact to the aquaculture industry.

Easily summed up as put mussels in some nasty conditions, when they are weak and defenceless, stress them out in a variety of ways and see how they cope. Mussel masochism basically.

I have a BSc in Marine Biology and am currently studying for an MSc in Marine Environmental Protection at Bangor University in North Wales. Ben graduated from Ocean Sciences and has undertaken a PhD at the University of Ulster.

Why did you choose to work in Marine Biology?

I grew up in London; the back garden of my parents’ house was a wildlife haven where my brother and I spend many happy years. The highlight of this garden was a pond that we build ourselves, within a few months there were frogs, newts and a myriad of freshwater insects. I spend many hours with my head buried in books about the sea. I kept fish and I did work experience in an aquarium. A teacher suggested that Marine Biology might be the career for me, since setting off down this adventurous route I have never looked back.

What is your research about?

Currently I am studying the effects of trampling and sediment smothering upon the intertidal biogenic reefs Sabellaria alveolata found on the north and west Welsh coast.

Martyn was a NERC-funded PhD student, and graduated from his PhD in 2016. He now works as a Lecturer in Newcastle University.

Why did you choose to study / research marine biology?

The Sciences always fascinated me from an early age, and I grew up exploring the countryside during the day and watching David Attenborough in the evenings, so natural sciences and biology have been closer to my heart than physics or chemistry. I picked Marine over other biological disciplines because the environment is less-well-understood. I feel that as a marine biologist you’re exploring an alien environment, full of un-charted wonderment. Which is rubbish, because most of us explore beaches full of uncharted crisp-packets and flotsam, but it’s still a giggle.

What is your research project about?

I’m researching two species of canopy-forming macroalgae, one invasive and one native to the UK. The invasive, Sargassum muticum, is currently outcompeting and in many locations replacing, the native Ascophyllum nodosum. The crux of the work is identifying key differences in the investment each species makes into chemical defence. The bit that interests me (because only weirdos get excited about seaweed) is placing those differences into an ecological context. To do this involves lots of animal behaviour experiments, and observing how those differences manifest in the decisions made by grazers (maybe getting excited about snails is just as weird). In time I hope to build a clearer image of Britain’s future intertidal ecology, as Sargassum spreads across Europe…

Laura was a PhD student sponsored by the Cemlyn Jones Trust, she graduated from her PhD in 2016 and now works as an environmental consultant.

Why did you choose to study / research marine biology?

When I told my High School Careers Adviser that I wanted to be a Marine Ecologist, she pointedly ushered me along a very different path: Marine Biology was not a field to make a career of! Being young and naïve, I took her advice, and several PCR disasters later, and an Honours degree in Developmental Biology, I realised the error of that decision: whilst the course content and theory had been fascinating, I did not enjoy it’s application… So I returned to Marine Biology with a Masters in Marine Resources, Development and Protection. Upon completion of my MSc, I took up a post as a Marine Ecologist with the Scottish Environment and Protection Agency (SEPA). Through this role, I developed a wide variety of skills including benthic invertebrate, macroalgae and phytoplankton taxonomy; the estimation of macroalgal biomass; and the estimation of macroalgal, seagrass and saltmarsh extent. Whilst I loved my time within SEPA, I feel it is time to develop these skills further.

What is your research project about?

My research project is entitled ‘Stability and Variability of Coastal Marine Habitats on Decadal Time Scales’ and has 2 main Hypotheses:

That the change in coverage of biotope forming communities, and their shore height limits, will be mostly driven by cyclic variability in wave exposure.
Cover of biotope forming communities will incease, regardless of vave exposure, as a result of warmer winter temperatures resulting in enhanced invertebrate juvenile survivorship.

I intend to approach these in 3 main components:

• Assess the change in cover of biotope forming communities, around the Irish Sea, from all available post-war aerial photography, including data to be collected with the use of a remote controlled drone.
• Estimate the temporal changes in wave exposure, within the same time series, from Met Office data, using GIS.
• Analyse the effect of temperature variability on invertebrate grazers, from historic temperature and rainfall data, and historic faunal data.

Interesting fact about yourself?

I was bought up on a Peninsula in the North West of Scotland with no mains electricity, water or other utilities. There are no shops, no pubs or indeed anywhere to spend any money. There are no roads, and to get there you have to either hike 6 miles from the end of the single track road, or take a boat (and by boat, I mean a 10ft, handmade, clinker-built rowing boat with an outboard engine on the back). Until I left home, there was only one telephone on the Peninsula, and that was in a box next to my house so whenever it rang, a bell would ring inside and we’d have to throw our wellies on, rush out into the elements, over the wall, dodging livestock to answer it… Then came the trip along the Peninsula to give the lucky recipient a message. Whilst many may think this was a very deprived childhood, it was also a childhood full of adventure and lacking in the usual restraints. As a family we were fairly self sufficient with windmills for electricity, wells for water, a vegetable patch with a polytunnel, the ocean was on our doorstep, and we had hens, a milking cow and plenty of other livestock.

Craig is a PhD student sponsored by BOEM and completed in 2018, Craig is now a Lecturer at Bangor University.

Why did you choose to study / research marine biology?

Having grown up around the beaches and coast of Durban, South Africa, I have always had an interest in the marine environment. My interest became stronger as I grew older, until I began diving and catching specimen species for my first marine aquarium, where I attempted, somewhat haphazardly and after many flooding events, to replicate the processes that determine a marine ecosystem. After relocating to the UK and enjoying a long lifestyle diversion, I finally returned to my marine ecology aspirations, studying Applied Marine Biology (B.Sc) and Marine Environmental Protection (M.Sc) at Bangor University.

On completion of my M.Sc, I was employed as a benthic taxonomist for Hebog Environmental Ltd, a small marine science consultancy specialising in marine benthic survey and macro faunal analysis from around the North East Atlantic and abroad. The post gave me essential taxonomic skills with which to develop my research and a deeper appreciation for marine benthos and constituent fauna.

What is your research project about?

My Ph.D is entitled: The Functioning of Deep–Sea Canyons on the East Coast of the U.S. The project is looking at the ecosystem functioning in submarine canyons, specifically off U.S. South East coast. The project involves a complete appraisal of the hydrodynamic regime, sediment flux and food supply influencing the habitats and fauna found at these biodiversity hotspots. The project is comprised of five main research areas on deep-sea canyons, answering ecological questions in the following areas:

• Eco-hydrodynamics in submarine canyons.
• Habitat heterogeneity and sediment processes in canyon systems.
• Faunal bathymetric zonation patterns within canyons and surrounding areas.
• Benthic infaunal community trends in submarine canyons.
• Habitat niche modelling and habitat facilitation in canyon systems.

The Ph.D is working in collaboration with colleagues at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and the United States Geological Survey.

Interesting fact about yourself?

I have many hobbies ranging from your average ‘lazy anytime’ hobby to the definitively niche ‘self-emersion slightly obsessive’ hobby. I think you can never have too many. They include: music, gardening, hiking, swimming, tropical marine aquarium keeping, cycle touring, shell collecting, world cinema, ceramics and Indian classical music. Currently, I’m on a ‘grow as much veg as you can’ hobby with a pinch of ‘vintage clothing’, although I can feel a season of stoneware pottery looming!